


Beyond the Sea

by BlueJay_Silvertongue



Series: Modern Age WonderPoison [4]
Category: Aquaman (2018), Wonder Woman (2017)
Genre: F/F, Oneshot, The friendship (and more) between two Queens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 02:37:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17235776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueJay_Silvertongue/pseuds/BlueJay_Silvertongue
Summary: Queen Atlanna doesn't spend those 20 years alone.





	Beyond the Sea

_So you’ve been here alone all this time?_

Atlanna lies.

Because there are more pressing things to discuss than the last twenty years she spent on this beach, day after day, sunrise after sunrise, tide after tide.

Her son has returned to her.

And his father…

 

* * *

 

_I promised I would return to him. And his house that gives light to ships at sea. And our son..._

“What is it like?”

The voice comes up from beside her, low and distant, nearly one with the wind and the waves.

“Have you never…?”

_You have been my greatest love. Today… you are my greatest sorrow._

“No.” The warm hand resting against her skin trembles slightly. “All that I love, in time, falls away. In peace, in war.”

And Atlanna stares up at the underbelly of the world, feeling the kiss of salt water upon her cheek.

_Where I come from, the sea carries away our tears._

“It is wonderful. And it is terrible.”

 

* * *

 

The first time she sees that figure rising from the sea in her golden armor, she thinks that the ancients have sent her one of their own.

She didn’t realize how right she was.

“The gods have heard your cries.”

She stands before her, sword held loosely in her hands, every inch as much a queen as she.

“They will not interfere with the decision of King Orvax.”

The hope that had risen so violently at this goddess’ appearance disappears at once, and she bows her head.

“So be it.”

Atlanna had accepted defeat the moment she left Tom and Arthur on that dock. The gods cannot inflict upon her any more despair than her son’s cries.

“Would that I could avenge you, daughter of the sea.”

Atlanna looks up.

“You are a surface dweller. This is not your war, your concern.”

“What they did to you was a violence against justice: it _is_ my concern.”

And the Queen of Atlantis looks upon the newcomer clearly for the first time.

“...who _are_ you?”

 

* * *

 

_Hippolyta of Themyscira, Queen of the Amazons._

She does not come often, but when she does, time flies like the pterodactylus creatures that soar overhead. Hippolyta comes with stories, news, sights and sounds and visions of lives that exist outside of this island, this rainforest, this tired, limited terrain.

Often, they lie together on the beach and talk about their children, living together somewhere in the surface world, gods amongst men. They laugh together, wondering. Dreaming. Hoping. But sometimes... her heart aches when she hears Hippolyta talk about watching her daughter run and play and fight and train.

Atlanna never even got to hear Arthur’s first word.

Other times, they talk about their countries’ joint history, the Atlanteans and the Amazons, fighting together, fighting against one another. Sometimes she forgets that this Queen of the Ancients was _there,_ battling her way through the history books, since the beginning of time.

“You are _that_ Hippolyta?” she had asked when this unsettling truth was revealed to her.

“...yes?”

“I thought you must be her… her hundredth descendent, not...”

“The Amazons are immortal,” Queen Hippolyta the First says primly when Atlanna’s voice trails off into uncertain awe. “The Atlantean historians have neglected their work.”

“Your people passed out of knowledge eons ago, from before the fall of Atlantis,” she protests, recognizing a jab at her people when she hears one. “You can hardly blame them for not knowing the status of your monarchy.”

“The status of our monarchy?” And Hippolyta sits up, shakes her magnificent mane of golden hair, and grins down at her. _“I am our monarchy.”_

And Atlanna shivers, but Hippolyta laughs a low, musical laugh, and she laughs along for what feels like the first time in years.

 

* * *

 

It’s lonely, living in exile.

She fashions armor for herself, explores every inch of the center of the world, battles the karathen for the hundredth time.

And when Hippolyta comes to visit, she explores her, too.

 

* * *

 

_It has been 35 years. I’m sure he has moved on, forgotten… I wouldn’t want him to wait, to not live as full a life as possible because of me… I was married, had another son since I last saw him, he may not even…_

“You did what you had to do to protect him. And you did.”

“He will not understand.”

“But he may.”

"But-”

“The humans are impatient. But they are resilient. Stubborn. And fiercely devoted to their ideals. This man’s ideal was you, and the love you shared, Atlanna. Do not allow doubt to cloud what you know to be true.”

 

* * *

 

Once, Hippolyta asks her to travel the path that once led to Tartarus, and join her in Themyscira. But Atlanna had refused, gesturing to the waterfall shimmering in the distance.

“One day, the rightful king will come. Only then will it be safe for me to return.”

The Queen of the Amazons had given the veiled pool a calculated look, but Atlanna had laid a gentle hand against her cold metal bracers.

“No, Hippolyta. What will they say, the Amazon Queen of old come to seize Atlantis and add its armies and realms to her dominion? They will never accept you, regardless of your status, your weapons. The world is not ready for one god to rule both the sky and the sea.”

“I know.” And Hippolyta kisses her, a kiss of resignation, a kiss of farewell. “They both sought my hand, in their day.”

Atlanna laughs, even as jealousy lingers at the edge of her mind.

“And did you give it to them?”

And Hippolyta tosses her head, arrogant distaste written across her proud features.

“Do not insult me.”

And Atlanna watches her walk out to sea, watching as she turns her path towards home, her back straight and proud... watching her leave, as Tom and Arthur once must have, that one bitter morning, all those years ago.

But she had turned to take a last look before she drowned herself in the tide that would sweep her away to her homeland.

Hippolyta never does.

 

* * *

 

One day, an armored warrior fights her way to shore, and Atlanna swims out to meet her, her arms already outstretched in welcome to her Amazon lover… but it is not Hippolyta who she plucks from the sea and revives on the beach.

It is Mera. The young, inquisitive princess she had tutored together with Orm, all those years ago.

She’s here, lying on the beach, staring up at her as if she’s seeing a ghost. And Atlanna stares back, barely daring to dream, barely daring to hope.

“Mera!”

And Atlanna looks up, and she sees him.

 

* * *

 

Arthur claims his rightful place as king.

Tom walks down to the docks at sunrise. A little older. A little more rugged. But still Tom, her Tom, Tom, keeper of the lighthouse.

 _I’m sorry,_ she tries to say, but he won’t hear it.

_You’re here. You came back. That’s all, that’s it, there’s nothing more to it._

And she buries her face in his strong shoulder, everything about him so familiar, so warm and comforting, so perfect.

She’s home.

 

* * *

 

“Mom! Mom, here, come meet my people.”

But Arthur hesitates for a moment as they gather around, this league of suits and capes and armor, as if unsure whether to introduce his team with their human names, or the aliases that the world has given them. But the one called Superman gives a small smile and steps forward, offering his hand along with his awkward, Midwestern charm.

“Please, call me Clark.”

And they go down the line, Bruce introducing himself with no more than a grunt, and Barry seemingly steeling himself to introduce himself properly this time. And then a tall woman steps forward, and she embraces her like a warrior.

“Well met, Queen Atlanna. I am Diana of Themyscira, daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons.”

And Atlanna startles, but she does not react beyond giving a small, gracious nod. The girl’s smile is warm and kind, but oblivious. Atlanna studies her for a moment, searching. It is a young face, still, soft and innocent, but there is a familiar sternness underneath, a confident strength that marks her as a true daughter of the Amazons.

“Well met, Diana.”

The princess nods back and seems about to move on, but Atlanna reaches out a hand and rests it lightly against the silver bracers protecting her forearms.

“Tell me... how is your mother?”

And Diana’s smile drops slightly, her eyes no longer bright with welcome, but with quiet grief, nostalgia.

“She…”

“Mom, I- I, why don’t you come with me, I want you to meet-”

“No, Arthur, it’s fine, it was only very recent… she- she’s dead. My mother is dead.”

And Queen Atlanna’s breath catches, as if for a fleeting second, her heart is refusing to beat in a universe where Hippolyta’s does not.

 

* * *

 

Arthur is searching the seven seas. The Justice League is scouring the surface of the earth, the very fabric of the universe, searching for a woman.

Atlanna rests her cheek against Tom’s shoulder and listens as Arthur laughs.

“Stolen out from beneath Superman’s very nose. I like that. That’s revenge. That’s a good, honest-to-God revenge.”

“Don’t be like that, Arthur. Is the lady all right?” Tom scolds in that simple, earnest way of his.

“Oh, Martha Kent is fine. Last I heard, she’s living her best life down in the Underworld. I saw her and Queen Hippolyta together at the Bat’s place. It was love at first murder attempt.”

 _“Arthur…”_ Atlanna sighs, but she only spreads a colorful crocheted blanket across her and Tom’s laps and waves her hulking son away from where he’d been blocking the view of the television. “Off with you, now. And you can tell Mera I agree with her that Aquababy is a _terrible_ name.”

“What?! Come on, it’s a _great_ name. Dad?”

But Tom only wraps his arm around his wife and shakes his head. And for a moment, they’re laughing together as a family, in this little house that gives light to ships at sea, guiding them safely home once more.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! I finally saw Aquaman today, and this just sort of happened...
> 
> FYI the last two scenes in this fic are part of my Modern Age WonderPoison universe. I can't resist the temptation for all of my fics to interlock somehow!
> 
> Go see Aquaman if you haven't already! It is a great movie, on-point character development, action, and visuals!


End file.
